Plywood lifeboat



L. S. BAIER PLYWOOD LIFE BOAT Filed NOV. 8, 1945 June 27, 1944.

Patented June 27, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,352,360 l PLYWOODLIFEBOAT Ludwig S. Baier, Portland, Oreg.

Application November 8, 1943, Serial No. 509,464

6 Claims.

My invention, which relates to the art of boat ltjuildinghas particularreference to life boats.

1 Primarily, the invention has for its object to provide alight-weight,strong and relatively inexpensiVe-to-build life boat to carry a maximumnumber of persons. Again it is an object to provide a life boatemploying a minimum amount of metal in its hull construction'.

' Other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed outhereinafter. @To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and Iends theinvention still further resides in the novel details ofconstruction,combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully`described in the following detailed description,

In the drawing, in which like numerals and letters of reference indicatelike parts in all the figures, I is the stem iron which comprises a bodyhaving anges 2 and which extends from the sheer to the keel. The stemiron has its flanges widened adjacent its upper end as at 3 for apurpose presently understood.

A pair of spaced metal plates 4 are welded, as at w, to the stem iron I.A pin 46 passes through these plates 4 and through the shell and throughthe widened portions 3 of the stem iron, the pin being riveted over atits ends. Spacer pipes 45 are located on the pin between the plates 4and the portions 3. The spacers 45 also serve as braces for the plates4.

Pivoted on the pin 46 is the hook 53 that holds the boat-lowering tacklelink 51 while lowering the boat from the deck of a ship, of which morewill be said later.

The stern post 5, like the stem iron I, is made of metal with flanges 6land widened portions l. Spaced plates 8 Iare also welded at w to thestern post 5, there being a pin 46 and spacers 45 employed as at thestem of the boat. Pivoted on the pin of the stern-disengaging-apparatusis a 55 hook 53 for the `aft link of the boat lowering tackle.

Both fore and aft, between the plates 4-4 and 8 8, is pivoted at 55 aweighted latch 55 which normally engages the pivoted vhook l53, a stopin 54 serving to hold the hook 53 vagainst, turning in one directionbehind a predetermined position (see Fig. 3). An eye bolt 4'Ipassesthrough each `pair of plates 4 and 8 andv carries `a spacer52'between the plates.

-A pulley 5I is mounted on veach eye bolt, over oak and the keelson I Iis preferably made of Ziir.

The keel I0 iand keelson II', and the'plywood shell I2 are securedtogether by bolts I9, a waterproof cement being applied to all fayingsurfaces.

Disengaging cables, indicated by dotted lines 49 in Figs. lA-lB, passthrough guides 48; at the aft end of the boat the fore and aft cables 49are connected to a pull member 50. By pulling on member 50 the tillerman can release the fore and aft hooks 53 to free the boat from thelaunching tackle. It will be seen by reference to Figs. 141B that thereleasing gear is rigidly mounted directly on the stem and stern irons.Thus the weight of the boat as it hangs from the suspending tackle,including the load, is carried by the stem and stern irons, which stemand stern irons actually serve as two hooks that cradle the load,extending to the ends of the keel.

BI designates a steel liner and 52 a steel keelguard at the bow end ofthe boat. At the stern `end of the boat a stern plate 63 is welded tothe stern post 5 and set into the keel IIJ to which it is riveted andbolted at I9.

In Fig. 4 I have shown horizontally disposed gusset plates 45x welded tothe plates 3 land the p1ates 4 (or 8 as the case may be), in lieu of thepipes 45 and the extensions of the pins 46.

The general construction of the boat may be that disclosed in myapplication led June 1, 1942, Serial No. 445,327, now Patent No.2,341,010, of which the present application is continuation in part.

The construction of the stem and stern of the boat constitutes theclaimed subject matter of the present application, while the seamconstruction constitutes the claimed subject matter of my originalapplication aforesaid.

The stem and stern construction herein cle-- scribed enables the plywoodshell to be directly fastened to the posts and the releasing tacklebeing welded and braced to the stem and stern posts strengthens theseposts so that thin sheet metal may be used in the construction of theposts.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it is thought the construction and advantages ofthe invention will -be clear to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In a life boat having a keel and keelson, solid wood frames and aplywood shell; metal stem and stern posts secured to the fore and aftends respectively of the shell and extending down to the keel, said stemand stern posts having side anges of increased width at their upperends,

pairs of parallel plates integrally secured to the' solid wood framesand a plywood shell; metal stem and stern posts secured to the fore andaft ends respectively of the shell and extending down to the keel, saidstem and stern posts havingV side flanges of increased width lat theirupper ends, pairs of parallel plates integrally secured to the stem andstern posts and spaced apart at the midplane of the boat, spacersbetween said plates and said upper ends, pins passing through saidspacers, said plates, the shell and said upper ends and having theirouter ends riveted over, thereby strengthening the prow and stern of theboat, lowering tackle engaging hooks pvoted between the plates of eachpair, a hook latch also pivoted between the plates of each pair to holdthe hook, and hook-releasing tackle connected with the fore and aftlatches and operable by one person for releasing the fore and aftlatches simultaneously.

3. The life boat of claim 1 wherein a stern plate is welded to the sternpost.

4. In a life boat having a keel and keelson, solid wood frames and aplywood shell; metal stem. and stern posts secured to the fore and aftends respectively of the shell and extending down to the keel, said stemand stern posts having side flanges of increased width at their upperends, pairs of parallel plates integrally secured to the stem and sternposts and spaced apart at the Inid-plane of the boat, spacers Ibetweensaid plates and said upper ends, thereby strengthening the prow andstern of the boat.

5. In a life boat having a keel and keelson, solid wood frames and aplywood shell; metal stem and stern posts secured to the fore and aftends respectively of the shell and extending downto the keel, said stemand stern posts having side flanges of increased width at their upperends, pairs of parallel plates integrally secured to the stem and sternposts and spaced apart at the midplane of the boat, and gusset platesconnecting said parallel plates with said side flanges, therebystrengthening the prow and stern of theb'oat.

6. In a life boat having a wooden keel and keelson, solid wood framesand a plywood shell; `metal stern and stern posts secured to the foreand aft ends respectively of the shell and extending down the keel, thestem post iron extending over ,the bow end of the keel; and a metal keelguardlat the bow end of the boat underlying the keel and the portion ofthe stern post iron in advance of the keel. ,I

